The dark side of workplace happiness
   • This is the third story in our series on workplace culture. Read the
   first, on mindfulness, here, and the second, on worker happiness, here
   [ ] Happy workers are productive workers. But does the quest for worker
   happiness come with a dark downside? Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex
   Workplace happiness has become big business. At companies ranging from
   improve their employees’ workplace satisfaction. On the surface, the
   and generally to make work more enjoyable, they are reaping rewards in
   Foundation, and worker rights groups like the National Workrights
   Institute have noted for years, the emphasis on workplace happiness
   happiness is a metric for workplace effectiveness, what happens to
   workers who have a bad month or two? Could they be fired for being a
   downer at work?
   happiness. And, according to Ben Waber, CEO of Sociometric Solutions,
   indicators of employee happiness, such as face-to-face interactions and
   In some ways, Waber notes, the workplace happiness issue speaks to the
   larger concern of workplace privacy — and the need for legislation to
A growing market for happiness
   working on workplace-focused products that incorporate positive
   psychology research. For years, Gallup had a monopoly on the workplace
   happiness game, which they preferred to call “employee engagement.”
   As workplace happiness measurement has gained traction, more companies
   companies measure and track employee happiness for a fraction of
   One potential concern for the workplace happiness movement is
   shot at transforming the way we work.
   one-day workshop or rolling out an app that measures and tracks
   employee happiness but doesn’t result in any sort of meaningful change
   these initiatives aimed at improving their happiness amount to so much
   my happiness...because you want more out of me. It’s just a
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